As in most other novels that talk about new phases of life, Jaimaica Kincaid’s novel is about new phases of life, Kincaid’s novel is about the change in percption of her sense of self. In this novel, Kincaid is introduced to a much safer place yet desires to go back home- “I wanted to be back where I came from(line 55).” As this general feeling of homesickness continues, Kincaid uses nature and color to help portray how she feels at her new “home.” For example, “but a pale-yellow sun, as if the sun had grown weak from trying too hard to shine (line 20).” The sun, usually a symbol of hope throughout literature, in this case, has faded leaving behind only despair and homesickness. Also, as the prose develops, the narrator uses color and alliteration
In Susan Pfeffer’s Life as We Knew It, life for Miranda and her family comes to a screeching halt after a meteor collides with the moon, triggering calamitous natural disasters. After the initial tragedy, humanity is left with unanswered questions, to which no one seems to have answers for. As a result, Miranda must forget about her normal, mundane life and focus on the hardship ahead of her and her family. With her world collapsing around her, she is left with choices and responsibilities that affect her loved ones as much as herself. Through literary devices, Pfeffer emphasizes the emotional struggles and physical battles Miranda must surmount before and after the misfortunate collision.
I chose Hope as my "core" belief topic because I'm going through a really hard season right now. Unfortunately, my vapor of hope is the only thing I have left to cling to. I heard it come in handy in times of struggles. As a result, I'm hoping that by spewing kindness and geniualy care for someone else that possibly I would reap what I so.
The short story, “Astronomer’s Wife,” by Kay Boyle is one of perseverance and change. Mrs. Ames, because of neglect from her husband, becomes an emotionless and almost childlike woman. As a result, Mrs. Ames, much like John Milton in his poem, “When I consider how my light is spent” (974), is in darkness, unaware of the reality and truth of the outside world. However, the plumber who is trying to repair leaking pipes in her house, starts by repairing the leaking pipes in her heart. He helps her realize that the life she is living is not a fulfilling one. In short, to Mrs. Ames, “[…] life is an open sea, she sought to explain in sorrow, and to survive women cling to the floating debris on the tide” (Boyle 59). Similarly, in Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “Everything That Rises Must Converge,” the mother is also “cling[ing] to floating debris” (Boyle 59). She is trying to hold on to her old life, the one in which she is socially better than blacks and other women. But, like Milton and Mrs. Ames, she is soon forced to see the world in a new perspective. Thus, a new life is created for Mrs. Ames and the mother after their epiphanies, with the realization of a new world, one in which hard work and understanding can lead to change in one’s life and of one’s identity.
The form of this work is influenced by the fact that Janisse is a woman. She feels a deep connection with the land where she was raised. “The landscape that I was born to, that owns my body” (Ray 13). She definitely expresses her feelings of injustice for the environment much differently than a man would. She also focuses on her desire to not accept her role as a typical woman. Not only as a child did she refuse to act like a little, sweet, innocent girl, but when she grew up, she defied the norm and attended college – and she had a passion for science which is also uncommon in most girls. “When I was eighteen and away from my town, I dived recklessly and surely into the world, not because it was a form of rebellion, as people might think, but as a form of healing and revival.” By this we can see Ray’s desire to go off by herself and take a risk. She took the plunge and control of her life becoming independent.
Ann Petry does an excellent job of symbolizing life’s difficulties and how one should react to them through the relationship of Lutie Johnson and a “cold November wind.” She utilizes important devices such as imagery, personification, and selection of detail to walk us through Lutie’s journey of finding a home. As readers, we learn how one should handle the negative effects of unfortunate events, and we learn to remain gracious as we walk through
Have you ever loved a place as a child, but as you got older you realized how sugar coated it really was? Well, that is how Jacqueline Woodson felt about her mother’s hometown and where she went every summer for vacation. The story, When A Southern Town Broke A Heart, starts off with the author feeling as if Greenville is her home. But one year when she has 9 she saw it as the racist place it really is. This causes her to feel betrayed, but also as if she isn't the naive little girl she once was. By observing this change, you can conclude that the theme she is trying to convey is that as you get older, you also get wiser.
These final words sum up her feeling of helplessness and emptiness. Her identity is destroyed in a way due to having children. We assume change is always positive and for the greater good but Harwood’s poem challenges that embedding change is negative as the woman has gained something but lost so much in return.
If my life had no purpose, no individuality, and no happiness, I would not want to live. This book teaches the importance of self expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
Once the elderly reach a certain age, they start to reminisce on their life and obstacles they went through. In Edgar Lee Masters’ poem, “Lucinda Matlock,” a women speaks of her life, after her death has already taken place. Lucinda Matlock, is the narrator of the poem, and is speaking to the younger generation. Masters portrays a typical American woman, who feels the youth is becoming pessimistic and hopeless. In this poem, Matlock represents positivity, strength and, overcoming challenges that come with living life to the fullest. Masters’ main purpose for the poem is to show the youth, that all the complaining and self-pity is a waste of time, go out and live life instead.
Women of the 1920’s compared to women today are seen as very passive and were usually domestic wives whose main responsibility was to take care of the house and children. But throughout this decade, women were starting to slowly modernize and become more independent. In The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, Lady Brett Ashley is somewhat portrayed as “the admirable new woman” of the 1920’s-the woman who openly flaunts accepted conventions of the passive, dependent female role in society and emerges as a positive, inspiring, and risk-taking figure in Paris, Pamplona, and Madrid among the male expatriate artists. In the novel, we see Brett as a modern and somewhat inspiring woman through characterization and the analysis of specific moments from the novel.
Death and life are contrasting points of view while discovery seems to be the main point in Joan Didion’s essay “On Going Home and, N. Scott Momaday’s essay The Way to Rainy Mountain. For Joan Didion, returning home is a source of comfort, confusion, and conflict. The life she lives with her husband and child are a world apart from the life she grew up in. Her memories are a part of who she is and the kind of mother and wife she hopes to be. Perhaps in her quest, she will find the best parts of her to pour into her new life. In contrast, N. Scott Momaday’s “home” is his grandmother. She encompasses all that he came to know and love. The Kiowa traditions were brought to life in her home through her beadwork, cooking, storytelling, and prayers. Her death is a turning point in his life which sends him on an adventure to discover his Kiowa roots.
... the plight of the Antiguan. At times she appears to revile Antigua, but she disproves any doubts about her true loyalty as she alludes to the hidden beauty of the country. At other times it seems as though Kincaid agrees with the treatment of the Antiguan natives, but she is doing so only in an attempt to point out the racism that is so embedded into Antiguan culture. So the answer to the question “is Kincaid an Antiguan or a tourist” is quite simply both.
In conclusion, Kincaid describes the state of Antigua in a very subjective manner. She is very straightforward about her resentment towards the ignorant tourists who exploit the poor Antiguan people for their pleasure, the corrupt government, the passiveness of the Antiguan people and their cultural subservience to the British, and finally the English who enslaved, and colonized Antigua. Throughout the book, Kincaid uses simplistic diction that can be very confrontational to get her points across. In other areas, Kincaid is also sarcastic, especially towards the ignorance of the tourist and the passiveness of the Antiguan people. Furthermore, Kincaid suggests that Antigua’s environmental constraints as being a small place also reflects how trapped the Antiguan people are in the shadow of the colonial past.
2. Kincaid’s work is directed towards colonizers, specifically the English. She would like them to know the permanent marks England has left on her, because of colonization. Additionally, she aims to open their eyes to the difficulties of being colonized.
This narrative shift allows the reader to see the community from two vantage points. Claudia's memories reveal her perception of her world that includes her reasonably stable family survivi...